My Dad asked me to make a table for his office where he could work on some computers. His office is in a building that was built in 1880, so it’s got some really cool beams and exposed brick walls. We had torn a building down that was built at the same time and I kept some of the timbers, so I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to use some of them for this project. Here’s the beam (it’s 12’ long, 12” wide, and about 3” thick):

At some point it had been in a fire

The holes are from joinery used to tie this beam to others.

Most of the timbers used in the buildings are long grain douglas fir. I thought that’s what I had grabbed, but after cleaning it up a little bit with a belt sander and hand plane, I realized that it’s actually red oak. Here’s the beam, cut in half and planed:

7 comments so far

Nice find, looking forward to the desk or table. I don’t think I would find much oak used in buildings out here on the left coast. How many more of those beams do you have. Your dad may be needing a chair for that desk,,,

Go for it, my man…..That’ll be one nice table when you get ‘er done…..As always, I look forward to your projects, and I’m sure your dad will be thrilled, too….I’ve seen your work, so I know it’ll be beautiful….Be sure to post some good shots when it’s complete….Good score on the timbers…!!!!!!!